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vCenter event collector

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vCenter event collector

The vCenter event collector is a MID Server extension that listens
for vCenter-related events.

The event collector allows the CMDB to be updated with changes
to virtual machines (VMs), in addition to the updates detected by Discovery. A change to a
VM is sent as an event from the vCenter server to the vCenter event collector. When an event
is received, the CMDB is updated accordingly. Full vCenter Discovery does not need to rerun.
For some events, such as powered on and powered off events, Discovery does not need to run
again at all. For most events, Discovery runs only on the necessary vCenter resource.

For example, if a VM is turned off, the vCenter server sends the event
VmPoweredOffEvent. The vCenter event collector receives and processes the
event and the CMDB is updated to reflect that the state of the corresponding VM is set to
off.

Important: With this extension, Discovery can only modify the state of a VM which
exists in the CMDB. When an event with "CreatedEvent" occurs in its name, such as
VmCreatedEvent, Discovery scans that VM and then creates the CI using the data it collects.
When a new event occurs involving that CI, Discovery can update the existing record without
launching another scan.

Supported vCenter events

The following events are the only vCenter events handled by the base system when Discovery is activated. If you have
upgraded your instance from an earlier version, you might not have the default events added
with later releases. To use the missing events, manually add them.

Table 1. vCenter events

Event name

Description

Launches probe

VM events

VmPoweredOnEvent

The VM has been powered on from the powered off state or resumed from the
suspended state. This event is sent when the VM is powered on. It does not account
for the time it may take to boot the host operating system.

None

DrsVmPoweredOnEvent

The VM has been powered on by a distributed resource schedule (DRS), which
balances workload between available resources.

None

VmRestartedOnAlternateHostEvent

The VM was restarted on another host because the original host
failed.

None

VmPoweredOffEvent

The VM has been powered off. If the host OS is shut down, this event is sent
after the host OS shuts down and the VM enters the powered off state.

None

VmPowerOffOnIsolationEvent

The VM has been powered off on an isolated host in an HA cluster.

None

VmShutdownOnIsolationEvent

The VM has been shut down on an isolated host in an HA cluster.

None

VmSuspendedEvent

The VM is suspended. This event is sent after the VM suspension is
complete.

None

VmRelocatedEvent

The VM has been relocated while offline (either suspended or powered off). A
VM migration of the VM to a different host, or the migration of any storage used
by the VM triggers the event.

None

VmMigratedEvent

One or both of the following occurs:

The VM has been hot-migrated, with vMotion, to another ESX server.

The storage for the VM has been hot migrated.

None

DrsVmMigratedEvent

Migration of a VM recommended by a DRS.

None

VmRemovedEvent

The VM instance has been deleted from vCenter.

None

VmClonedEvent

The VM was cloned successfully.

VMWare - vCenter VMs

VmCreatedEvent

The VM was successfully created.

VMWare - vCenter VMs

VmDeployedEvent

The VM was deployed successfully.

VMWare - vCenter VMs

VmDiscoveredEvent

The vCenter successfully discovers the VM.

VMWare - vCenter VMs

VmRegisteredEvent

The VM was successfully registered.

VMWare - vCenter VMs

VmReconfiguredEvent *

The VM was reconfigured.

VMWare - vCenter VMs

VmInstanceUuidAssignedEvent *

A new instance UUID was assigned to the VM.

None

VmRenamedEvent *

The VM was successfully renamed.

None

VmUuidAssignedEvent *

A new BIOS UUID was assigned to the VM.

None

VmMacAssignedEvent *

A new MAC address was assigned to the VM.

VMWare - vCenter VM NICs

VmMacChangedEvent *

The MAC address of a VM was changed.

VMWare - vCenter VM NICs

VmGuestShutdownEvent*

The guest VM shut-down.

None

VmStoppingEvent*

The VM stopped.

None

VmResettingEvent*

The VM reset.

None

Cluster events

ClusterCreatedEvent

A cluster was created.

VMWare - vCenter Clusters

ClusterReconfiguredEvent *

A cluster was reconfigured.

VMWare - vCenter Clusters

ClusterDestroyedEvent *

A cluster was destroyed.

None

Datastore events

DatastoreRenamedEvent *

A datastore was renamed.

None

VMFSDatastoreCreatedEvent *

A VM File System (VMFS) datastore was created.

VMWare - vCenter Datastores

DatastoreDiscoveredEvent *

A host was added to VirtualCenter and datastores were discovered.

VMWare - vCenter Datastores

NASDatastoreCreatedEvent *

An Network Attached Storage (NAS) datastore was
created.

VMWare - vCenter Datastores

LocalDatastoreCreatedEvent *

A local datastore was created.

VMWare - vCenter Datastores

VMFSDatastoreExpandedEvent *

A datastore was expanded.

VMWare - vCenter Datastores

DatastoreDestroyedEvent

A datastore was removed from VirtualCenter.

None

Network events

DVPortgroupCreatedEvent *

A port group was created.

VMWare - vCenter Networks

DVPortgroupRenamedEvent *

A port group was renamed.

None

DVPortgroupDestroyedEvent *

A port group was destroyed.

None

Resourcepool
events

ResourcePoolDestroyedEvent *

A resource pool was destroyed.

None

ResourcePoolCreatedEvent *

A resource pool was created.

VMWare - vCenter Clusters

ResourcePoolMovedEvent *

A resource pool was moved.

VMWare - vCenter Clusters

ResourcePoolReconfiguredEvent *

A resource pool was reconfigured.

VMWare - vCenter Clusters

DVS events

DvsCreatedEvent *

A distributed virtual switch was created.

VMWare - vCenter Networks

DvsRenamedEvent *

A distributed virtual switch was renamed.

None

DvsDestroyedEvent *

A distributed virtual switch was destroyed.

None

Datacenter
events

DatacenterCreatedEvent *

A datacenter was created.

VMWare - vCenter Datacenters

DatacenterRenamedEvent *

A datacenter was renamed.

None

* New for Jakarta.

How vCenter events are processed

The instance converts the subscribed vCenter events into system events (sysevent) that the
system uses to perform tasks, such as email notification.

The MID Server listens for the vCenter events configured in the vCenter Event Collector
form. When one of these events is returned from vCenter, the instance parses the payload
with a business rule that converts the vCenter event into a system event. The resulting
sysevents contain these values:

Name: Name of the system event created from the vCenter event.
This value is always automation.vcenter.

Parm1: vCenter event that was returned. This event must be
associated with an event collector record.

Parm2: Event data provided by vCenter, in JSON format.

Figure 1. Log entries for vCenter events

Configure and run the vCenter event collector extension

Configure the vCenter event collector extension in the MID Server module, and then add or
remove supported events.

Before you begin

Before creating an event collector perform these tasks:

Deploy and start a MID Server.

Ensure that the MID Server has access to the vCenter.

Run discovery on the vCenter.

Role required: agent_admin, admin

About this task

To configure the vCenter event processor extension:

Procedure

Navigate to MID Server > Extensions > vCenter Event Collectors.

Click New or open an existing extension.

Fill in the fields, as appropriate from the table.

Right-click in the header bar and click Save in the
context menu.

The vCenter Event related list appears, containing the
default events that the system is configured to handle.

To select a different vCenter event, click Edit in the
vCenter Event related list and browse for the
event.

The slushbucket does not display all the available events in the opening
list. Use the filter to browse for events not displayed.

Under Related Links click Start
to save the events in this collection and start the collector.

The Related Links in this form work as follows:

Table 2. Commands available in the vCenter event processor extension

Related Link

Description

Start

Starts the collector if it is currently not running. The extension connects
to the specified vCenter server by enumerating the VMware credentials in the
credential set until a connection can be made. Next, the extension tells the
vCenter server to supply the events specified in the Collector Context.

Stop

Stops the running collector on the configured MID Server. No action is taken
if the extension is not running.

Restart

Stops, then starts the collector on the configured MID Server.

Test

Tests the parameters for validity. If the IP address, hostname, and the set
of events is valid then the test returns a successful status. If any of the
parameters are incorrect, an error is shown. Running a test does not affect any
extensions that are currently running.

Update parameters

Sends updated parameters to the collector. Any changes you make to the
collector while the MID Server is running do not take effect immediately when they
are saved. If you click this control when the collector is not running, no update
is made.

In the case of the vCenter extension, the collector first tests the
parameters for validity. If the parameters are valid, the extension disconnects
from the vCenter server and reconnects with the new parameters.

Field

Description

Name

A unique name for this vCenter event collector
extension for easy identification.

Short description

A description of this collector.

Extension

[Read-Only] The collector type is automatically set
to vCenterExtension.

Status

This field auto-populates with the status of the
collector. This field is blank until the collector is
started. After issuing a command to the collector, you
see one of these values:

Started: The collector is
running.

Stopped: The collector is
not running.

Offline: The MID Server
is down.

Error: The collector
failed with an error.

Error Message

Message describing any error that causes a command,
such as Start or
Stop, to fail. This field
only appears when the value in the
Status field is
Error.

The name of the designated MID Server if you selected
Specific MID Server in the
Execute on field. The name of
the designated MID Server cluster if you selected
Specific MID Server Cluster.
If you selected the MID Server cluster option, an
algorithm determines which server in the cluster runs
the collector.

vCenter

The IP address or hostname of the vCenter
server.

Executing on

[Read-Only] The name of the MID Server on which the
collector is running. This field shows the name of the
MID Server even if the MID Server is down. If the
collector is stopped by the user, this field is
empty.

What to do next

You can add or remove supported events from the vCenter event collector. Multiple MID
Servers can listen to the same vCenter instance, but each MID Server can only have
one event collector record associated with it. Make sure you configure the events on
the event collector record that specifies the correct MID Server.

Navigate to the relevant vCenter Event Collector record. This can be the same collector
record as the one containing the supported vCenter events, but only if the same
MID Server is used to gather the events.

Click the Edit button in the vCenter
Event related list.

Select the events from the list and save the selection.

Not every event is
supported by the base system event handlers. See Supported vCenter events for a list of the events you can use
without needed to create your own event handlers. If you want to handle
other events, you must create a script action to process the events. For
instructions, see Script actions. As a reference, the instance processes the vCenter events in the base
system with a script action called Discovery: Process
vCenter events. Do not edit or delete this script action.